Saturday, July 01, 2017

Venezuelan opposition burn more men alive

A Venezuelan lorry driver died on Thursday after opposition thugs burned him and two others alive at a roadblock.José Luis Bravo passed away at midday at the Coromoto Hospital in Maracaibo, the capital of western Zulia state after suffering third-degree burns on Wednesday.He was riding in the passenger seat of the goods lorry when it ran into an illegal barricade and came under attack from looters throwing stones.Before he died, Mr Bravo said: "We came across the barricade .. and those who had blocked the way began throwing stones at us to loot the truck and when we went in reverse, we hit the motorcycle."“(The motorcyclist) lay injured on the road and then they threw Molotov bombs at us and set the truck on fire. The boy burned to death."The motorcyclist was named as 20-year-old Luigin Paz. The name and condition of the lorry’s driver, also injured, was not reported.State Governor Francisco Arias demanded via Twitter: “The opposition leadership in Zulia must speak out!”The Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition called for “national shutdown” on Wednesday as part of three months of protests and riots aimed at overthrowing President Nicolas Maduro.The actions include blocking main roads, shutting down public transport networks and forcing shops to stay closed — exacerbating the shortages of food, medicines and other goods the opposition blame on the government.On Thursday night rioters burned some 40 tons of food out of 100 at a government distribution centre in eastern Anzoategui state destined for distribution to hungry families.On Tuesday Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said youth Giovanny Gonzalez was burned and stabbed by masked rioters in Caracas who thought we was a “Chavista” — a government supporter.That mirrored the attack on Orlando Figuera, who died in hospital on June 4.Last Saturday rioters inflicted third-degree burns on two young men, Henry Escalona and Wladimir Pena, who they mistook for Chavistas in Barquisimeto in Lara state.On Thursday pro-opposition Attorney General Luisa Ortega charged former Bolivarian National Guard commander Antonio Benavides with human rights abuses, claiming police and troops were responsible for 23 or the 80-plus deaths so far and 853 injuries.Meanwhile the Cuban Foreign Ministry slammed regional governments’ support for the Mud and failure to condemn its “terrorist and putschist acts.”